New Online Platform to Help Fill Empty Seats in Classrooms

Harvard Student-Led Company Wins Public Sector Award Sponsored by
Accenture

June 14, 2016 08:27 AM Eastern Daylight Time

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A company led by Harvard University students aspires to be “the Airbnb
for higher education,” tapping unused capacity – empty seats – in higher
education and vocational classrooms. The annual Public Sector Innovation
Award, under the auspices of the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center
at Harvard and sponsored by Accenture,
is providing $10,000 to help advance the new online platform.

ALEX (Anyone’s Learning Experience) has begun building partnerships with
small and medium Boston-area businesses that offer tuition assistance
and have employees without college degrees. The objective of the
platform is to match need with excess capacity in classrooms –
connecting employers and individual employees with classrooms that are
not full. ALEX earns revenue through a per-class fee, with the bulk of
payments going to participating educational institutions. Participating
employers can subsidize classes for their employees as a means of
reducing internal training costs and improving employee development,
productivity and retention. The current focus on Boston will be followed
by New York City and then rolled out to other cities.

“Many people are struggling to improve their education, companies need
better trained employees, and every year there are about two million
unfilled U.S. classroom seats – there is huge need and potential for the
platform we’ve created,” said Sergio Marrero, CEO of ALEX and currently
attending Harvard’s Business School and Kennedy School of Government.
“Connecting working professionals without college training with
available seats in classrooms is an effective and cost-efficient way to
help business thrive while improving the lives of millions of people.”

The Public Sector Innovation Award, sponsored by Accenture and under the
auspices of the Technology and Entrepreneurship Center at Harvard,
encourages Harvard University students to apply their creative energy to
help solve pressing public sector challenges while fostering a new
generation of government leaders. Participating students gain the
opportunity to engage with government officials to identify problems,
challenges and opportunities; create a project proposal for a product or
service that addresses the challenge; and the award winner gets funding
to help develop their initiative to create public value.

“We are proud to sponsor this important award, which supports innovation
critical to solving our toughest issues and opening up opportunities,”
said Julie Sweet, Accenture’s group chief executive – North America.
“ALEX is a great example of the power innovation has to create economic
opportunity.”

Pallavi Verma, senior managing director of Accenture’s public sector
practice in North America added: “ALEX is a creative and commendable
effort to make college training more accessible, help businesses address
talent and skill gaps, and help educational institutions capture what is
essentially lost revenue. It could have a big positive impact on
employees, businesses and schools, as all benefit from the improved
access to education that this platform offers.”

About Accenture

Accenture (NYSE:ACN) is a leading global professional services company,
providing a broad range of services and solutions in strategy,
consulting, digital, technology and operations. Combining unmatched
experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries and all
business functions – underpinned by the world’s largest delivery network
– Accenture works at the intersection of business and technology to help
clients improve their performance and create sustainable value for their
stakeholders. With approximately 373,000 people serving clients in more
than 120 countries, Accenture drives innovation to improve the way the
world works and lives. Visit us at www.accenture.com.